After Davis Mountain State Park, I visited a series of three other state parks in Texas: Balmorhea, South Llano River, and Palmetto. I had never been to Balmorhea or South Llano River. I had been to Palmetto twice and found it to be a nice, quiet place.
Balmorhea is located about thirty-five miles north of Fort Davis, so it was a short drive. It features a spring-fed pool, claiming it to be the world’s largest. It is quite big! It is fed by an underground aquifer with fifteen million gallons of water passing through it daily. The water temperature is consistently 72-76 degrees year-round. It has an irregular shape, a circle in the center that is about fifty yards in diameter with two rectangular arms off of it, each about fifty yards long. The depth varies from three feet to twenty-five feet. There are fish and turtles living in it, as well as birds that come and float. I used the pool of course, jumping in off a ten-foot-high diving board. The campground had recently (June) reopened after a renovation. It is really nice, spacious with great showers, plenty of hot water! There is also a community sink for washing dishes. It is an excellent place to stop for a day or two when traveling, especially if it happens to be hoe weather. On my first day there, it was 80 degrees and sunny. But there was also a twenty-five-mph wind. It would have been nicer without that wind. On the second day, less wind, but only 60 degrees.
I met a friendly couple there, Jim and Kathy from Washington State. They stopped on their way to Padre Island for the rest of the winter. They had a friendly dog, too, named Oo-la-la.
South Llano River was about 260 miles east on I-10. I stayed there two nights. I did a hike and a bike ride within park boundaries. It was a windy day, making it a hard workout physically and mentally. I also noted that there are many roads in Texas that are chip-sealed. This is a process by which one or more layers of asphalt are put down, then covered with oil and a layer of small stones. The stones provide a grip on the road. The process also results in a rough ride. I don’t like it. I rode on chip-seal roads at Fort Davis, Balmorhea, and now here.
South Llano was a nice park with several hiking trails, but I would opt for something different due to the road surface for bike riding. Jim and Kathy were at this campground, too! The day I left, I stopped in the Kimble County Library to use their WiFi and printer. The librarian was very accommodating and friendly. They had a nice children’s section, too. I loved all the stuffed animals!
From South Llano I drove 180 miles to Palmetto, where I had stayed a night in 2022 and in 2023. Palmetto is an oddity in the area due to the presence of a forest of dwarf palmetto bushes. These usually grow only in tropics. The park has lush, green vegetation throughout.
Palmetto is in a rural area. I was riding my bike on my second day there just outside the park border. I slowed at an intersection, nearly stopped, when a pack of dogs suddenly appeared from behind me. There were six of them, barking and running at me. I accelerated. I nearly ran dog over, which would likely meant falling, but I braked and avoided it. Accelerating again, I managed to escape. It was quite an adrenaline rush. Since this happened right near the park, I rode about half mile down the road, then called the park office. I described the situation, asking if this was normal. I was told there have been other incidents with these dogs. The owners don't leash them, don't fence them. There's no legal requirement to do so. They let them roam.
The dogs occasionally come into the park, too, I was told. And by law, if a dog is harassing you on your property, you can shoot it. That's not what I would want to do, neither did the ranger. But it sounded like having a gun in the house was common. The ranger, very kind and understanding, offered to come pick me up and bring me past the house where the dogs live, back into the park. I didn't hesitate to say yes.
I ended up staying in the park and doing a ride back and forth several times on a section of road that was about a mile and a half long. I still got in a good workout two days. Adventures in travel ...
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